​The GlobeTheatre


external image HollarGlobeDef.jpgThe Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, and was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613. A second Globe Theatre was built on the same site by June 1614 and closed in 1642.
A modern reconstruction of the Globe, named "Shakespeare's Globe", opened in 1997. It is approximately 230 metres (750 ft) from the site of the original theatre.


​History

The Globe was owned by actors who were also shareholders in Lord Chamberlain's Men. Two of the six Globe shareholders, Richard Burbage and his brother Cuthbert Burbage, owned double shares of the whole, or 25% each; the other four men, Shakespeare, Joh Heminges, Augustine Phillips, and Thomas Pope, owned a single share, or 12.5%. (Originally William Kempe was intended to be the seventh partner, but he sold out his share to the four minority sharers, leaving them with more than the originally planned 10%). These initial proportions changed over time as new sharers were added. Shakespeare's share diminished from 1/8 to 1/14, or roughly 7%, over the course of his career.
The stage
At the base of the stage, there was an area called the pit, (or, harking back to the old , yard) where, for a penny, people (the "groundlings") would stand on the rush-strewn earthen floor to watch the performance.A rectangle, also known as an 'apron stage', thrust out into the middle of the open-air yard. The stage measured approximately 43 feet (13.1 m) in width, 27 feet (8.2 m) in depth and was raised about 5 feet (1.5 m) off the ground. On this stage, there was a for use by performers to enter from the "cellarage" area beneath the stage.Large columns on either side of the stage supported a roof over the rear portion of the stage. The ceiling under this roof was called the "heavens," and was painted with clouds and the sky. A trap door in the heavens enabled performers to descend using some form of rope and harness. The back wall of the stage had two or three doors on the main level, with a curtained inner stage in the centre and a balcony above it. The doors entered into the "tiring house" (backstage area) where the actors dressed and awaited their entrances. The balcony housed the musicians and could also be used for scenes requiring an upper space, such as the balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet. Rush matting covered the stage, although this may only have been used if the setting of the play demanded it.
external image london.jpgThe Important Playes

.Julius Caesar was the first known William Shakespeare play to be performed at the Globe Theatre.
  • Hamlet was performed 1600-1601
  • Twelfth Night 1601
  • Richard II - 7 February 1601
  • Troilus and Cressida 1601-1602
  • All’s Well That Ends Well 1602
  • Timon of Athens 1604
  • King Lear 1605
  • Macbeth 1606
  • Pericles, Prince of Tyre 1607
  • The Tempest 1610
  • The Two Noble Kinsmen 1611
  • Henry VIII in 1613